Mark your calenders! This years annual Central Coast Oyster Festival will be held between October 18-19th, 2013, in Morro Bay.

The Central Coast Oyster Festival is a celebration of all the Central Coast has to offer. The Festival features the delectable oysters of the Morro Bay Oyster Company and fresh local produce in the hands of the area’s best chefs, paired with award-winning local wine, beer, and spirits. In addition, the event includes a spirited oyster-shucking competition, live food demonstrations and an enticing “Aphrodisiac Lounge.”
Live Art, Entertainment & Education accompany this event in one of the most unique, beautiful, creative settings the Central Coast has ever seen. With art event installations from The Do LaB and SpinCycle the atmosphere created wowed the attendees and this year has such a great response expected attendance will be well over 6000. This year the The Central Coast Oyster Festival is also bringing a new fundraiser tradition to benefit OPTIONS Family of Services. Many local bands like TROPO and Neon Russell will be playing and over 20 gourmet food vendors will be featured. This event is definitely one you won’t want to miss. Buy a VIP ticket and get your own Butler to serve you food and beverages throughout the festival. In addition all participants will be able to lounge on Butlerz Events high end furnishings as part of their experience. We hope to see you there!

The ocean is a plethora of neverending mysteries. Read on to discover some of its surprising facts.

1. 99% of all living space exists exclusively under the ocean, and 50-80% of all life on earth dwells in the sea. This means that we as human beings have hardly seen the massive matter our planet contains!

2. The highest tides in the world are located at the Bay of Fundy. They range from about 50-70 feet daily. In a period of 12 hours, approximately 115 billion tons of water flow in and out every day.

3. The largest recorded tsunami was in Alaska and measured 60 m (approx. 180 ft.) above sea level.

4. There are more artifacts located in the ocean than there are in all of the museums on the plant combined.

5. The longest mountain range and volcano range exist under the ocean.

6. A fully grown blue whale weighs between 150-170 tons and is the largest known animal to ever exist on our planet. To get an idea, that is equal to more than 50 fully grown elephants.

7. 95% of the earth’s oceans has been unexplored by man. As of today, we have better maps of how Mars looks than the ocean floor.

8. Half of the entire world population lives within 60 miles of a coastline. Since the beach is a favorable spot and weather is more mild, people like to be closer to the coast.

9. The Mid-Ocean Range is the longest mountain range on earth. It is 40,400 miles long underwater and stretches the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic. Put in perspective, it is 4 times longer than the Andes, Rockies, and Himalayas combined.

10. 50% of the entire United States lies underwater. We as human beings are unconscious of the extraordinary amount of landmass that lies below our level of awareness.

On December 22, 1941, the Montebello of San Luis Obispo prepared itself for its voyage back to the western coast. The crew members loaded over 78,000 barrels of oil which was meant to be supplied to the war effort. Unfortunately, that ship never reached its destination. Not too long after it had set sail, Japanese invaders had successfully torpedoed the ship and its cargo would become forever lost at sea. Captain Ekstrom yelled orders to stand to by the lifeboats and abandon ship. Quickly many of the crewmembers did as they were told and hurried to escape. Luckily in the aftermath of it all, the captain was successful in saving everyone in the 38-member crew. However, as the years passed the Montebello would come to elicit more problems than the local community would expect. Decades later in 1996 when the Montebello was rediscovered, scientists had rediscovered the ship along with its 78,000 barrels of crude oil. Although carefully intact, they figured out that if any of the barrels ever began to leak, it would cause a serious threat to the surrounding wildlife and San Luis Obispo community. California assemblyman Sam Blakeslee contacted the Unified Command led by the U.S. Coast Guard and California Department of Fish to conduct further testing to determine if there was a substantial oil threat. After a few years of research and experiments they finally concluded in 2012 that the ship would pose no harm and decided to leave it intact as it is. The U.S. coast guard along with the Department of Fish still say that the continual checkup on the Montebello must be implicated every so often to prevent future hazards from arriving.

Planning a mini day trip to the beach with your family during spring break can be a great time to bond and have some fun!

Here are a few fun activities you can do with them while at the beach:

Start off the day by making sandcastles. The mornings are best for this activity because the wet sand stretches farther from the shoreline, meaning you do not have to make several trips to the water’s edge to get your ammunition. The foggy air that still lingers in the early day also allows the sand castle to be easily molded.

Once you get a group together, start making different figures like castles or tunnels. Holding mini competitions between your friends to see who can make the best sand structure can be extremely fun. If you want to inspire your friends with some awesome sand castle structures, we recommend watching Sand Masters. This show will definitely put them in sand castle mode!
Once the day starts warming up, grill some dogs and enjoy your sandcastle art on the beach. Freshly cooked hot dogs along with a cool potato salad side makes the perfect beach lunch and is easy enough to cook so that you don’t have to worry about spending extensive time preparing a delicious meal.

After a relaxing lunch, get out your sports gear and play some volleyball! With the right group setting, volleyball can be an enjoyable activity that gets everyone actively involved. Whether you decide to play competitively or just toss the ball around, this game creates a good stimulating change from the lazy atmosphere of the beach.

After settling down from a good game, take some time to just relax and hang out on the beach. Gazing at the sunset or making a bonfire while watching the waves is great way to end the day and leave with a peaceful mind.

And that sums our mini-day trip idea for the beach. Hope you enjoyed it and please comment/blog your thoughts!

Spending the day at the beach can make you hungrier more often than you realize.
To get the most out of your day, bringing snacks with a lot of carbohydrates or protein will sustain your energy so you won’t have to worry about giving out midday. While you can always buy food from the concession stands, it often isn’t the best choice since it is expensive.

On the following list we have carefully chosen a variety of snacks that will satisfy different nutrition and practical purposes for the beach:

Hand Made Trail Mix;Almonds, peanuts, pretzels, goldfish, m&m’s, and popcorn. Making your own unique trail mix can be fun and tasty. This combination of trail mix is a unique and personal favorite and tingles every sense of your tongue. Balance healthy snacks with tasty snacks so you can satisfy your cravings every so often while you’re playing in the sand.

Chicken sandwich;
A typical chicken or turkey sandwich has 14 grams of protein. Wrap a slice on a piece of bread to make an easy and efficient snack that will give you long term energy.

Assorted Fruit;Banana slices, strawberries, mango, grapes. Expelling a lot of energy at the beach can easily make your mouth dry, so staying hydrated is important. Fruits have roughly 50-80% water and are high in potassium.

Chill them in the cooler and they’ll stay fresh all day.

Power bars;There are certain power bars that are very nutritional, while others are actually a detriment to your body. According to Jenna Holt, an expert on nutrition, Kind Blueberry Pecan and Quest Coconut Cashew are said to be some of the healthiest power bars, while Luna and Cliffe are the worst.

Cheese;
Simplicity is such a wonderful thing. Cheese is full of protein and is practical for a beach environment since it is convenient to pack. Bringing individual slices minimizes the amount of sand that could potentially get in your food. You can slide them in your chicken sandwich.

Smooth, grainy, soothing or muddy, moist, cracked or hot, hard, and stony. There are a wide variety of sand textures on the beach and the characteristics of each can widely determine your experience. Read on to learn about the variety of tantalizing textures found at the beaches of your very own central coast.

Oceano Dunes State Beach

Oceano Dunes State Beach is one of the most unique beaches in California. Widely known for it’s features, scientists, conservationists, government agencies, and the public recognize Oceano State Dunes Beach as having the finest coastal dunes in California. It’s like pillowy powder softness beneath the soles of your feet. As awesome as it is for your feet, driving isn’t always an easy task – getting stuck in the sand is almost instant! If you want a beach that’s got vibrant activity, super soft texture under your feet, then make sure to check out Oceano!

Pismo Beach

The sand texture at Pismo is as smooth as polished glass, sometimes called Mason Sand, and is a recognizable feeling between the toes. It is perfect to lay down on during a hot day. This condition makes it ideal to play a game of volleyball, or heat yourself up after splashing in the cool waves. The sand also makes it perfect for building sandcastles.

Moonstone Beach, Cambria

Want an instant foot massage? Then definitely head out to the beaches of Cambria. Here the sand is more like softly polished tiny pebbles. It takes some getting used to but once you get the hang of it, you’ll really enjoy the gentle massage and exfoliating properties of Cambria’s beaches. These tiny pebbles also make Moonstone Beach an ideal location to spend the day jamming on a pair of African drums.

Got some other sand texture experiences you want to share? Please do so. We’d love to hear all about them.

F a l l i n L o v e A g a i n
Join your loved one beside a roaring bonfire with two tikis and a romantic teepee for two outfitted with plush pillows and ambience lighting. Ask for the Tee Pee Romance Package.